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Celiac.com 07/10/2017 - For anyone with celiac disease or gluten intolerance who was wondering how well food manufacturers are complying with FDA standard for gluten-free labeling, or wondering exactly how gluten-free is my gluten-free food, some early answers are in, and the news looks good.
A recent report by the agency indicates that the vast majority of food manufacturers are getting it right, and, correcting where they do get it wrong.
The FDA's final rule for compliance in gluten-free labeling was August 5, 2014. To gauge compliance in gluten-free food labeling, the agency conducted a sampling assignment of products labeled "gluten free" from July 2015 to August 2016.
The compliance testing is an important part of the FDA's mission to ensure that products labeled on or after the compliance date are properly labeled as "gluten-free."
In all, the agency's team analyzed more than 250 types of products, and tested 702 individual samples in the categories of cereals, grain bars, and flours.
Their complete survey showed that just five samples from one product source contained gluten in excess of the regulatory limit of 20 parts per million (ppm). That left the overall gluten-free product-based compliance rate above 99.5 percent.
The good news here is that producers major gluten-free food products are doing a very good job of following FDA labeling standards. Also, the manufacturer of the samples that showed gluten levels above 20 ppm carried out a voluntary recall, conducted an extensive root cause analysis, and immediately implemented additional corrective actions to prevent recurrence.
Follow-up testing by the FDA showed acceptable levels of gluten.
This is the first hard data the FDA has gathered regarding compliance with gluten-free labeling standards. To see such high levels of compliance and responsiveness by manufacturers is encouraging.
Read the Analytical Results of FY2015/16 Gluten-Free Food Product Sampling. SOURCE: FDA.gov

Celiac.com 02/28/2017 - A number of commercial brewers are opting to use enzymatic digestion, or hydrolysis, for treating gluten-containing foods and beverages to make them safe for people with gluten sensitivity, including those with celiac disease. However, some have questioned whether the process is safe for all people with celiac disease, as some celiacs complain that they experience gluten sensitivity when they drink these beers.
Currently, there are no validated testing methods for quantifying levels of hydrolyzed or fermented gluten peptides in foods and beverages that might be harmful to celiac patients. This makes it difficult to determine the safety of hydrolyzed products for people with celiac disease.
Some researchers finally tested the clinical response by celiac patients to gluten-free beer, gluten-removed beer, and conventional beer. They also tested a non-celiac control group. Their main goal was to determine if sera from active celiac patients can serve as an effective detection tool for residual celiac-reactive proteins in gluten-removed beer.
The research team included Laura K Allred; Katherine Lesko; Diane McKiernan; Cynthia Kupper; and Stefano Guandalini. Their study used an ELISA-based method to determine whether serum antibody binding of residual peptides in a fermented barley-based product is greater among active-celiac disease patients than a normal control group, using commercial beers as a test case.
The team first gathered sera from 31 active-celiac disease patients and 29 non-celiac control subjects, then assessed the binding of proteins from barley, rice, traditional beer, gluten-free beer, and enzymatically treated (gluten-removed) traditional beer. None of the 29 non-celiac control subjects reacted to all three barley-based samples (barley extract, traditional beer, and gluten-removed beer), while 2 of 31 active-celiac disease patients (6.4%) responded to all three samples. In the ELISA, none of the subjects' sera bound to proteins in the naturally gluten-free beer.
Eleven active celiac patients showed immunoglobulin A (IgA) or immunoglobulin G (IgG) binding to a barley extract, compared to only one non-celiac control subject. Of the seven active celiac patients who had an IgA binding response to barley, four also responded to traditional beer, while two of these also responded to the gluten-removed beer. None of the sera from non-celiac control subjects bound to all three beer samples.
Breaking down the results, only 11 of the 31 active celiac disease patients even reacted to barley. Only 4 of those 11 reacted to traditional beer; a mere 12%. Of those, only two celiacs reacted to gluten-removed beer, or about 6% of the test group.
So, interestingly, while this study indicates that the vast majority of people with celiac disease seem to tolerate both traditional and gluten-free beers, it also indicates that there are residual peptides in the gluten-removed beer that may trigger reactions in a minority of celiacs.
This particular study was small and highly regional, so very little can be projected to the larger celiac population. Clearly more study is warranted to more accurately determine the exact nature of the risk for celiacs who drink gluten-removed beer.
This isn't the last we'll hear about the safety of gluten-removed beer. Stay tuned for more on this and other gluten-free stories.
Read more about gluten-free and gluten-removed beers.
Source:
Journal of AOAC International. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5740/jaoacint.16-0184

So I am sixteen, and for the past year or so I have been experiencing some very strange things with my body. (And yes I know i'm going through puberty and change is normal.) But the things I have been experiencing are not just the typical growing up things. I have had a consistent rash on my upper back, chest and thighs, (also having major breakouts on my back and minimal on my chest. I assumed it was just acne although it is itchy which I don't think is normal for just pimples...) And a few weeks ago i was kind of freaking out because when I went to the bathroom, I had almost like a fatty liquid with my stool! (Which lasted for a couple of weeks and still comes back every once in awhile). I always feel very bloated and constipated and I have the WORST pms. I ended up in the emergency room twice from passing out after standing up and feeling dizzy, I stopped growing around age 13 and am by far the shortest in my family. I didn't think that it was related until i was looking up symptoms, (I am 5'2, the rest of my family range from 5'6 to 5'11). I went on a juice cleanse several months ago and felt soooo much better and my skin cleared up, but that only lasted a couple of weeks and since going back to eating regular food containing gluten all of my old symptoms have come back. Should I get tested?

Celiac.com 03/04/2013 - Morbid obesity is a common medical condition. In many cases, bariatric surgery is necessary. Although for decades celiac disease has been associated with chronic diarrhea and weight loss, and other classic symptoms, recent data shows that the clinical spectrum of celiac disease is extremely wide.
A group of researchers recently reported on the benefits of diagnosing celiac disease during pre-operative work-up for bariatric surgery.
The researchers included Federico Cuenca-Abente, Fabio Nachman, and Julio C. Bai of the Department of Surgery and Department of Medicine at Dr C. Bonorino Udaondo Gastroenterology Hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
They reported on the cases of five morbidly obese patients diagnosed with celiac disease during preoperative work-up for bariatric surgery. Celiac disease was suspected upon routine upper endoscopy, and confirmed by histology and positive celiac disease-specific blood tests.
Interestingly, four of the five patients had no obvious symptoms. One complained of chronic diarrhea and anemia. All patients began a gluten-free diet. Due to their celiac disease diagnosis, doctors offered all five patients a purely restrictive bariatric procedure. At the time of the report, three of the patients had received a sleeve gastrectomy, while the other two were still undergoing pre-operative evaluation.
The team's findings help to enlarge the clinical spectrum of untreated celiac disease. Even though rates of celiac disease in obese patients seems to be similar to that in the general population, the team recommends that patients with morbid obesity be tested for celiac disease in order to determine the best surgical strategy and outcome.
Source:
Acta Gastroenterol Latinoam 2012;42:321-324

I am new to this forum but not new to having Celiacs Disease.
Before I ask my questions I want to tell you a short story about how I ended up finding out I have Celiacs Disease.
It was a year ago that I started experiencing abdominal pain that felt as though my intestines were knotting up. I've always felt bloated and
sick but just chocked it up to just a normal feeling. However, when I started getting horrible stomach cramps, I couldn't ignore that and decided
to head to the doctor. The doctor {Who is more of a primary doctor then a specific GI doctor} preformed a blood test to determin if I had Celiacs
Disease and it came back more then positive.
This is how my result looked:
Tissue Transglutaminase Antibody IgA (My value 27.9) Standard Rage 0-3.9 U/mL
Interpretation: Positive
Tissue Transgltaminase Aby IgG (My value 60.4) Standard Range 0-5.9 U/mL
Interoretation: Positive
My doctor instructed me that I needed to get on a gluten free diet right away without doing any further testing like an endoscopy and or stomach biopsy.
Now, back to my question, after seeing the above test result. Do you think I need to undergo any further tests or should I just stay on this g.f. diet?.
Ever since I started the gluten free diet, I haven't experienced any further discomfort in my stomach and I am pretty sure the gluten is the culprit but
I have heard from a GI doctor that in order to confirm that I for sure have Celiacs Disease is to do a stomach biopsy.
What are your thoughts guys, should I contact my doctor and tell him that I would like to this to be more confirmed?.
Thanks in advance to reading and sharing your comments with me.

Celiac.com 06/15/2008 - Many people with celiac disease have stories to tell about the about how difficult it can be to get a getting a proper diagnosis. Celiac disease can mimic so many other conditions. Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is one of those conditions. The symptoms for Irritable Bowel Syndrome and for celiac disease are often similar as a result the diagnosis of celiac disease can be delayed or missed and misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome.
In an effort to reduce the misdiagnosis of celiac disease as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Britain’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has drawn up new guidelines covering the diagnosis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The guidelines call for all diagnosis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome to be preceded by a screen for celiac disease. Keeping this in mind, anyone suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and who has not been tested for celiac disease, might want to take the initiative and check with their doctor to see if further testing might be in order.
Studies show that a minimum of 1 out of every 100 people in Britain suffers from celiac disease, but that only 1 out of 8 is properly diagnosed. More worrisome still is the fact that new research shows that it takes an incredible 13 years on average before the diagnosis are made. That means 13 years of unnecessary pain and discomfort, to say nothing of potential systemic damage for those awaiting a proper diagnosis of celiac disease, including osteoporosis, bowel cancer and increased risk of other autoimmune diseases.
Since similar numbers likely prevail in America, it's good to keep an eye on clinical changes like the one recently made in Britain. Again, for people diagnosed with IBS, but who have not been evaluated for celiac disease, it might be good to consider getting checked for celiac disease, even if these changes are not officially implemented in America anytime soon. Changes in diagnostic and treatment practices that benefit people with celiac disease are long overdue and highly welcomed by the celiac community.
As our abilities to evaluate diagnostic and treatment practices continue to expand, look for important changes in the clinical approach to celiac disease, greater awareness among the general population, and improvements in the quality of life among celiacs.
References: 1. The Economic Burden of Coeliac Disease in the UK research paper 2. Recent advances in Coeliac Disease by D.A. van Heel and J. West, published in Gut 2006 55, pp 1037-1046 3. Coeliac Society of the UK

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Celiac.com was founded in 1995 by Scott Adams, author of Cereal Killers, founder and publisher of Journal of Gluten Sensitivity, and founder of The Gluten-Free Mall, who had a single goal for the site: To help as many people as possible with celiac disease get diagnosed and living a happy, healthy gluten-free life!